Norway Invests in Ukrainian Solar, Hydro and Other Renewable Energy Projects in Ukraine

Norwegian companies are moving toward investing nearly half a billion dollars in solar and hydro projects in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Tuesday at a joint press conference with visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide. Neither foreign minister gave details. Separately, Norway’s NBT announced plans last month to build in southern Kherson a wind farm with a capacity of 250-330 MW. The EBRD is considering funding 20% of this $428 million project. In coming days, Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry Torbjørn Røe Isaksen is to visit Kyiv.

Ukraine’s potential for solar, wind, hydro, and biomass energy would allow the nation to move to a fully renewable energy supply by 2050, according to a study by Finland’s Lappeenranta University of Technology. Such a transition would almost cut power bills in half, to €54/MWh. To get there, Ukraine would have to invest heavily over the next three decades in battery storage for electricity and water reservoirs for hydro. On Tuesday, the California Legislature approved a bill that, by 2045, electricity production in the state must come completely from clean energy sources.